Hawaiian Islands

The Hawaiian Islands, once known as the Sandwich Islands, form an archipelago of nineteen islands and atolls, numerous smaller islets, and undersea seamounts trending northwest by southeast in the North Pacific Ocean between latitudes 19° N and 29° N. The archipelago takes its name from the largest island in the group and extends some 1500 miles (2400 km) from the Island of Hawai‘i in the south to northernmost Kure Atoll. The archipelago represents the exposed peaks of a great undersea mountain range known as the Hawaiian-Emperor seamount chain, formed by volcanic activity over a hotspot in the earth's mantle. At about 3,000 km (1,860 miles) from the nearest continent, the Hawaiian Island archipelago is the most isolated grouping of islands on Earth (Macdonald, Abbott, and Peterson, 1984).

Ecology

:Related article: Endemism in the Hawaiian Islands.

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The Hawaiian Islands are home to a large number of endemic species. The plant and animal life of the Hawaiian Islands developed in nearly complete isolation over about 70 million years. Human contact, first by Polynesians, introduced new trees, plants and animals. The growing population also brought deforestation, forest degradation, treeless grasslands, and environmental degradation. As a result, many species which depended on forest habitats and food went extinct. Agriculture began to increase, with monocultual crop production replacing multi-species systems. The arrival of the Europeans had a significant impact, with the promotion of large-scale single-species export agriculture and livestock grazing. In turn, this led to the increased clearing of forests, and the development of towns, driving more species to extinction. Today, many of the remaining endemic species are considered endangered. http://www.agroforestry.net/afg/

Related Topics:
Endemic - Polynesians - Monocultual crop production - Multi-species systems - Europeans - Extinction

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